Petition launched to stop people needlessly losing their sight

Monday, 25 September, 2017 - 09:15

The Macular Society has launched a petition today to stop people from needlessly losing their sight.

The petition has been launched after one of the Society's volunteers was forced to invade the headquarters of his local healthcare commissioners on two separate occasions to demand answers after he suffered irreversible sight loss as a result of delays to his treatment.

Chris Thorley has an eye condition which affects his central vision and was receiving treatment to stop his sight from getting worse but unfortunately, this treatment stopped working. Chris asked his eye doctor to switch to a different treatment which is only available in Scotland and Wales, but not in England.

A request was made to the local healthcare commissioner for Chris to receive urgent treatment to try and save what was left of his sight. People who lose their central vision cannot read, drive, recognise faces or even see the food on their plate, understandably Chris was extremely anxious.

After waiting more than 9 months for urgent treatment and repeated attempts for an answer, Chris was forced to invade the headquarters of his local healthcare commissioners to demand answers. Although he is now receiving the new treatment, he will never regain the sight he lost while he waited for a decision to be made by the NHS.

Chris told us: “Central vision loss is a horrible condition which affects people in so many ways. It’s been so stressful waiting for treatment to be approved while my sight deteriorated. There are many people across the UK like me who have suffered irreversible sight loss due to failings in the NHS. Please sign this petition to help stop this happening to more people.”

The Society is calling on the Department of Health prioritise eye health to put a stop to unnecessary sight loss